Smashing Security

Apr 29, 20261h 4m#465

A developer at an AI startup wanted to cheat at Roblox. They downloaded a dodgy script on their work laptop. That one decision triggered a cascade of failures that ended with a $2 million data breach affecting hundreds o

Apr 22, 202651m#464

A company that ran anonymous tip lines for 35,000 American schools - handling reports of bullying, weapons, and self-harm - boasted on its website that it had suffered zero security breaches in over 20 years. A hacker ca

Apr 15, 202650m#463

A hacking group claims to have broken into the flood defence system protecting Venice's Piazza San Marco - and is offering to sell access to whoever wants it. The asking price? A frankly insulting $600. Meanwhile, Anthro

Apr 8, 202641m#462

LinkedIn has been secretly scanning your browser for over 6,000 installed extensions — on every single click you make. It can tell if you're job hunting, what religion you are, and whether you have ADHD. And none of this

Apr 1, 202645m#461

A cannabis-growing, beekeeping, gyrocopter-flying Irishman invested his drug money in Bitcoin back in 2011 - and now sits on a fortune worth $400 million. There's just one small problem: the access codes were tucked insi

Mar 26, 202640m#460

A disgruntled data analyst decides that the best response to losing his contract is to steal the entire company payroll database and demand $2.5 million in Bitcoin - signing his extortion emails from a company called "Lo

Mar 19, 202654m#459

In episode 459 of Smashing Security, we dive into a chillingly clever account takeover attempt targeting WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg - involving MFA fatigue, real Apple alerts, a convincing support call, and a ph

Mar 12, 202641m#458

A Wikipedia security engineer accidentally wakes a dormant JavaScript worm that hadn't stirred since 2024 - and within minutes, giant woodpecker images are plastered across the internet's favourite encyclopaedia. Meanwhi

Mar 5, 202649m#457

When a top cybersecurity firm discovered it had a leak, you would expect the FBI to be called. Instead, the person put in charge of the investigation was the actual leaker... who promptly sent an innocent colleague into

Feb 26, 202648m#456

When the mysterious operator of an internet archiving-service decided to silence a curious Finnish blogger, they didn’t just send a stroppy email - they allegedly weaponised their own CAPTCHA page to launch a DDoS attack

Feb 19, 202644m#455

Could America turn off Europe's internet? That’s one of the questions that Graham and special guest James Ball will be exploring as they discuss tech sovereignty. Could Gmail, cloud services, and critical infrastructure

Feb 12, 202640m#454

AI bots are having existential crises, inventing religions, and allegedly plotting against humanity... or so the internet would have you believe. We dig into Moltbook, the “AI-only” social network that sent Twitter into

Feb 5, 202636m#453

Supposedly redacted Jeffrey Epstein files can still reveal exactly who they’re talking about - especially when AI, LinkedIn, and a few biographical breadcrumbs do the heavy lifting. Sloppy redaction leads to explosive cl

Jan 29, 202645m#452

In episode 452, a London-based YouTuber wins a landmark court case against Saudi Arabia after his phone was hacked with Pegasus spyware — exposing how a single, seemingly harmless text message can turn a smartphone into

Jan 22, 202645m#451

In episode 451 of "Smashing Security," we meet the cybercriminal who hacked the US Supreme Court, Veterans Affairs, and more - and then helpfully posted screenshots (and even someone’s blood type) on an account called "I

Jan 15, 202636m#450

Confusion reigns after claims that data linked to 17.5 million Instagram accounts is up for sale - sparked by a vague post, contradictory statements, and a flood of password reset emails nobody asked for. And we dig into

Jan 8, 20261h 1m#449

Romance scammers have apparently discovered astrology... and Taurus is their secret weapon. In episode 449 of "Smashing Security", we take a look inside an actual romance-fraud handbook - complete with scripts, personali

Dec 18, 202536m#448

Think your Kindle is harmless? Think again! In this episode, Graham and special guest Danny Palmer unpack a Black Hat Europe talk revealing how a boobytrapped audiobook could exploit the Amazon eBook reader - potentially

Dec 11, 202555m#447

On this week's show we learn that AI really can be a stalker’s best friend, as we explore a strange tale that starts with a manatee-shaped mailbox on a millionaire's lawn and ends with Grok happily doxxing real people, m

Dec 4, 202544m#446

A teenage cybercriminal posts a smug screenshot to mock a sextortion scammer... and accidentally hands over the keys to his real-world identity. Meanwhile, we look into the crystal ball for 2026 and consider how stolen d

Nov 27, 202540m#445

America's airwaves are haunted by zombies again, as we dig into a decade of broadcasters leaving their hardware open to attack, giving hackers the chance to hijack TV shows, blast out fake emergency alerts, and even repl

Nov 20, 202555m#444

Stop the press - a company has actually said "sorry" after a data breach, and hotels are helping hackers phish their own guests. In episode 444 of "Smashing Security" we examine a refreshingly honest breach response (and

Nov 13, 202538m#443

Tinder has got a plan to rummage through your camera roll, and Warren Buffett keeps popping up in convincing deepfakes dishing "number one investment tips." Meanwhile, will agentic AI replace your co-hosts before you can

Nov 6, 202538m#442

Time itself comes under attack as a state-backed hacking gang spends two years tunnelling toward a nation’s master clock — with chaos potentially only a tick away. Plus when ransomware negotiators turn to the dark side,

Oct 30, 202540m#441

Basketball stars have allegedly joined forces with the mafia to fleece high-rollers in a poker scam involving hacked shufflers, covert cameras, and an X-ray card table. Meanwhile, researchers have found they could poke a